Polygon
The gaming blog Polygon was launched on October 24, 2012, as Vox Media's third property. The site grew from technology blog The Verge, which was launched a year earlier as an outgrowth of sports blog network SB Nation before Vox Media was formed. Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff approached Joystiq editor-in-chief Christopher Grant in early 2011 about starting a video game website. Bankoff considered video games to be a logical vertical market for Vox, whose sites attracted an 18- to 49-year-old demographic. He also saw games to be an expanding market in consideration of mobile and social network gamecategories. Forbes described Bankoff's offer as a "serious commitment to online journalism" in an age of content farms and disappearing print publications, but Grant did not trust the offer and declined. Upon seeing the effort that Vox put into The Verge, their Chorus content management system, and the quality of their content and sponsorships, Grant changed his mind and returned to pitch Bankoff. Grant wanted the new site to compete with top gaming websites GameSpot and IGN, but still be able to run longform "magazine-style journalism" that could be of historic interest. As part of the site's attempt to "redefine games journalism", Vox made a 13-part documentary series of the site's creation ("Press Reset") that tracked the site's creation from start to launch. Forbes described Polygon's original 16-person staff as "star-studded" for including the editors-in-chief from three competing video game blogs. Grant left Joystiq in January 2012 and brought the editors-in-chief of Kotaku and The Escapist, Brian Crecente and Russ Pitts. Other staff included Joystiq managing editor Justin McElroy as well as weekend editor Griffin McElroy, and staff from UGO, IGN, MTV, VideoGamer.com, and 1UP.com. Ben Kuchera joined the site after The Penny Arcade Report closed in November 2013. The team works remotely from places including Philadelphia, New York, West Virginia, San Francisco, Sydney, London, and Austin, though Vox Media is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The site was developed over the course of ten months, where the staff chose the site's name and set standards for their reporting and review score scale. Polygon staff published on The Verge as "Vox Games" beginning in February 2012 and ending with their October launch. The site's name was announced at a PAX East panel in April. It refers to a polygon—"the basic visual building block of video games". After raising money in a second round of funding in late 2013, Vox announced that they would be investing further in the site's video product, such that the site's experience would feel "as much like TV programming as magazine publishing". Polygon announced that it would run fewer features in June 2014, with the departure of features editor Russ Pitts, their video director, and video designer. Polygon hired Susana Polo, founder of The Mary Sue, in 2015, which marked a transition in the site's scope to add pop culture and entertainment alongside their video game coverage. GamesIndustry added that the hire marked a changing cultural sensibility in game and tech media towards the acceptance of progressive, feminist principles in the wake of Gamergate. Vox Media later created several sites dedicated to specific video games with editorial staff from Polygon and SB Nation: The Rift Herald for League of Legends esports in March 2016, and The Flying Courier (for Dota 2) and Heroes Never Die (for Overwatch) in June 2017. Brian Crecente left Polygon for Rolling Stone's gaming website Glixel in July 2017, and Chris Plante replaced him as Executive Editor. Polygon video producer Nick Robinson left Polygon in August 2017, following allegations of inappropriate online sexual advances. shifted over from the main wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygon_(website)) The current staff at Polygon (updated at 8/10/18) are Senior Culture Reporter: Julia Alexander Video Editor: Clayton Ashley Senior Reporter: Colin Campbell Video Producer: Simone de Rochefort News Editor: Allegra Frank Editorial Director, Guides Video: Russ Frushtick Video Producer: ''Brian David Gilbert ''Video Producer: Patrick Gill News Writer: ''Ryan Gilliam ''Weekend Reporter: ''Owen Good ''News Writer: ''Austen Goslin ''Editor-in-Chief: Christopher Grant Intern: ''Palmer Haasch ''Senior Reporter: Charlie Hall Opinions Editor: Ben Kuchera Site Lead, Rift Herald: ''Julia Lee ''Features Editor: Matt Leone Executive Producer, Video: Tara Long Site Lead, Heroes Never Die: Cass Marshall Senior News Editor: Michael McWhertor Director of Programming: Ross Miller Social Media Manager: Ashley Oh Senior Entertainment Editor: ''Matt Patches ''Executive Editor: Chris Plante Comics Editor: Susana Polo Intern: ''Petrana Radulovic ''Engagement Editor: Jeff Ramos Site Lead, The Flying Courier: ''Victoria Rose ''Front Page Editor: Samit Sarkar Managing Editor: Chelsea Stark Video Producer: ''Jenna Stoeber ''Guides Editor: Dave Tach Head of Moderation: James Elliott Category:Company